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My skin is really dried out on my abdomen I haven't come across a lotion that has helped and truthfully, it seems almost...scaly. It weirds me out but it's not terribly uncomfortable it just itches terribly sometimes.

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Katieryn wrote:

Okay, so I take a medication daily and have the option of taking a half dose as needed. Trouble is, this medication increases prolactin...soooo whenever I take the as-needed dose, I (oh god) start to lactate for a couple days. It's just a bit, but still, it's so WEIRD. Should I be concerned about it? Are there any long-term effects of increased prolactin in general? And can it have any effect on the hormonal birth control I take?

Well if the medication raises the level of prolactin in your body, I'd be concerned if you didn't lactate. Prolactin shouldn't disrupt birth control, though...if anything it'll help, since its release during breastfeeding is itself a natural contraceptive for the body, and I shouldn't think there are long term side effects aside from the ones already experienced. I can't really tell you more without knowing the drug in question though.

Anji wrote:

My skin is really dried out on my abdomen I haven't come across a lotion that has helped and truthfully, it seems almost...scaly. It weirds me out but it's not terribly uncomfortable it just itches terribly sometimes.

Scaly skin on the abdomen is more likely eczema/dermatitis and/or fungal infection. (Some forms of allergic dermatitis are really kinda constant low-grade fungal infections.) ESPECIALLY true if it's unresponsive to hydrating lotions. First thing to try is applying hydrocortisone of the sort you get in the drugstore twice a day. You may want to also continue using lotion (you can safely mix the cortisone and a scent-free simple lotion in 50-50) because the cortisone will dry you out. This is the cheapest first thing to try, but just because it doesn't work doesn't mean it isn't still a dermatitis--many won't respond to such lightweight corticosteroids. You can also rule out fungal infection by applying antifungal creams you'd buy in a drugstore (actually try rubbing it down with...vaginal yeast infection creams). If neither gives you a good response, go to the dermatologist...who will probably give you the same classes of drugs, but in much stronger doses.

Of course before any of this, consider if it's a new article of clothing (perhaps a waistband that disagrees with you), or some new product you're using that may cause irritation. I'm assuming here you've ruled that out though.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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Okay, I'll bite the nommy bait of experience. These are not MY problems, but instead Lady Lortab's. The reason I'm posting them for her (to all you new folks, Lady Lortab is my mother, who I shanghaied onto IRG a long while back) is because it's just easier for her to dictate to me the problems (I don't really mind hearing about her issues) than for me to constantly correct her spelling and grammar.

Okay, enough about that. Onward with the problems. But we'll save the more embarrassing one for later. Right now it's a matter of pain and safety.

Lady Lortab wrote:

I've been on Celebrex for seven years now to treat my osteoarthritis. My kidney specialist has taken me off the medication because of potential harm to my kidneys. She has suggested Acetaminophen instead. Is there anything else I can take other than Acetaminophen to ease the pain that won't potentially damage my kidneys?

Think you can help my mom out here a bit, Ends of the Forum?

Roses have thorns to stop those who would dare deny their right to live.Razara's Postulate: For every lover of lesbians out there, there is an equal and opposite attraction to Dippin' Dots.

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Good job on the change there, doc! Because overdose of acetaminophen, likely in a situation where the pain is considerable, doesn't blow your liver to smithereens. Overuse, btw, causes renal failure, too. Also because it's in many combination drugs, people tend to lose track of how much they've taken.

Celebrex doesn't even have listed renal issues as common side effects: GI bleeding, yes. Honestly, it's hard to make a suggestion without knowing the severity of the symptoms. At endgame, most people with arthritis are going to be on corticosteroids. I say endgame, because they're wicked bad for you.

As far as OTC stuff, you're pretty much down to acetaminophen (kills liver, kidneys) and ibuprofen (bad for your stomach). If your doctor's that hung up on acetaminophen, you might suggest Tylenol 3. They're pretty common as a midway between what can be done OTC and harder stuff, and the codeine keeps the dosage of acetaminophen to a safe and dull roar.

Are you on glucosamine/chondroitin? The research is a little inconsistent but anecdotally I've heard great things. My grandmother used to take it.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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Hello Nurse Gio!

I do have a question for you. My resting heart rate tends to be 90+ BPM, even when I'm waking up from being asleep. Any sort of stress or loud noise will send it shooting up over 100. I'll get what feels like panic attacks through the day, and I've checked my BPM during these times, and that's the only time it goes down to 70-80. Should I be worried?

I also have heart murmurs, and mild anemia. I've been tested for diabetes, and found out that my blood sugar is slightly below average.

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Blood pressure and heart rate are inversely related; one goes up, the other goes down. If a person loses a lot of blood, their blood pressure drops for lack of volume, so their heart rate increases to compensate. There are also normal human variations, with the normal resting rate of 60-100. That's resting rate, so you're still within the norm, and obviously any loud noise or anything that triggers the startle reflex will shoot it up. The question is if it stays high longer than five minutes or so after the stimulus ends.

How would you describe how the panic attacks feel? Does your heart thud harder, even if slower? Get dizzy? Your pulse is dropping probably because your blood pressure shot up--heart output increased in reaction to stress. (Sudden shocks make your heart go faster, panic attacks and such tend to make the heart try to force out more output in contraction.) Your heart rate's variations are quite normal; if they seem on the higher end, it's only because your heart has to pump a little quicker to move oxygen around if you're anemic, and moderately hypoglycemic states do the same thing to transport sugar faster--and because of the murmur, a little bit of that effort gets wasted. Unless you experience pain on exertion or marked shortness of breath for only moderate activity, then you're just fine. You do have three medical issues here that sound like they're safely controlled now but will have implications as time goes by, so be careful to keep a tab on the murmur and watch your diet--luckily all the right dietary decisions are the same in avoidance of diabetes and just about everything else. The single best thing you can do for anemia is take extra iron. This is easily done, just make sure to up your fiber with it so you don't poop bricks. Fiber, BTW, tends to come in whole grains, which are the better carb to take in when your blood sugar tends to run low, as it's a more sustained, gentler increase in available sugars.

Also, stay hydrated. While your heart rate's fine, it'll feel far less so when it creeps up because there's not enough blood volume. Another thing to keep in mind is that physical fitness lowers the resting heart rate slightly. These might be a couple steps worth taking to lower your base heart rate--which won't exactly hurt, since it puts less strain on the murmur over time.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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Because I am the Co-president of The FML for the Mid-Atlantic region I have 65$ of useless birth control. I wanted pills, specifically norethisterone to ensure that I would not being having my period on vacation. I was refusing to be bleeding on a boat and at the beach! So early January I talked to my Doctor, explained what I want to achieve and got all this squared away they said sure and that they would give me a prescription that would handle it. So I send out said prescriptions off to be filled at the pharmacy; of course they call me and say that they are out of the original pills because they have been discontinued and could they substitute them for others. I said as long as my doctor agrees it is fine. So of course I get my pills and they are regular fucking birth control... Fucking fail. I tried to return them, fully sealed in package to the pharmacy but they couldn't accept them. Anyway in short, what in the hell can I do with them? I guess I could possibly do research and figure out the Morning After plan for them but in all honesty I don't for see needing them for that purpose anytime soon. Any suggestions?

"If all the world is a stage and all the people players"...then I demand a less shitty part or the ability to get off of the stage. Slowly my sanity slides, slipping, swirling, spiraling...Save Me I need Sleep...Shattering Soon. "RukaxTouga equals the Fourth of July" MY patriotic celebration...FUCK ME TOUGA AND RUKA NOW!!

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How severe is a typical earache? Is it still an earache if the person is complaining of Ďspasmsí inside their ear, doubling over in pain, chills (but not fever), and crying. My mom has this. She apparently has been to the doctor several times and they say, ďYou donít have an ear infection,Ē and send her away with drops for whenever itís painful. Online says, if itís not an infection its fluid build up. Well, since this is a reoccurring theme, does that sound like what it really is? I always imagined an ear ache like a headache, you see people with headaches looking uncomfortable, but they arenít crying and flinching. Iíve just never heard of -such an extreme earache reaction- so the symptoms seem, to me it sounds like it warrants a Hospital Visit! She saw the general doctor about blood pressure (and takes all the requisite bloodpressure medication) and they talked her into a flu shot. Could this abnormal reaction be due to that?

Just remember that the things you put into your head are there forever, he said. You might want to think about that. / You forget some things, don't you? / Yes. You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget.

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SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:

I guess I could possibly do research and figure out the Morning After plan for them but in all honesty I don't for see needing them for that purpose anytime soon. Any suggestions?

For most birth control, it's a dose of three at once and then one or two more a while later. But...why can't you use the ordinary birth control pills to regulate your period? Based on that I might be able to offer suggestions.

Frosty wrote:

How severe is a typical earache? Is it still an earache if the person is complaining of Ďspasmsí inside their ear, doubling over in pain, chills (but not fever), and crying. My mom has this. She apparently has been to the doctor several times and they say, ďYou donít have an ear infection,Ē and send her away with drops for whenever itís painful. Online says, if itís not an infection its fluid build up. Well, since this is a reoccurring theme, does that sound like what it really is? I always imagined an ear ache like a headache, you see people with headaches looking uncomfortable, but they arenít crying and flinching. Iíve just never heard of -such an extreme earache reaction- so the symptoms seem, to me it sounds like it warrants a Hospital Visit! She saw the general doctor about blood pressure (and takes all the requisite bloodpressure medication) and they talked her into a flu shot. Could this abnormal reaction be due to that?

It's probably nothing to do with the flu shot. Spasms and pain and crying are all possible with a normal earache because shit that shit can hurt. Chills, however, are foreboding, even in the absence of fever. Fluid buildup is possible but in a situation that severe they need to be looking for ear or tooth (yes) abscesses or cysts. Someone needs to do an X-Ray or CT or whatever they want to see if there's a pocket of infection or fluid in there; if the doctors are saying no on infection based on swabs, then an abscess could still be there. They may also be visualizing a normal tympanic membrane, which will rule out inner/mid ear infection but not auditory nerve growths or issues or fluid/cysts within the bone structure but outside the ear. Unfortunately the best way to get that all figured out is scanning of various sorts, and that's easiest to get done by going to the ER. If she has insurance or doesn't give a shit...go for it. Better safe than sorry, and the head is not a good place to dick around.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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I've had a lingering pain in my right leg for about a week. It's a kind of tight soreness concentrated right above the back of my knee, and it hurts enough to make me limp a bit and hurts to touch. I've noticed it has started since my first night at work -11 hours on my feet with no break...I literally did not leave the line (where we make the orders) once all night, running back and forth to make and hand out food. I'm not sure if it's just soreness from being outta practice being on my feet for such long periods of time or if I have genuinely pulled something.

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Giovanna wrote:

SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:

I guess I could possibly do research and figure out the Morning After plan for them but in all honesty I don't for see needing them for that purpose anytime soon. Any suggestions?

For most birth control, it's a dose of three at once and then one or two more a while later. But...why can't you use the ordinary birth control pills to regulate your period? Based on that I might be able to offer suggestions.

Well really I did not want to start a birth control plan on a full time basis; I just wanted a skip month/week. So even though I don't think that the pills I have will work that way give it a shot. They are Norinyl 1/50 28 day compact.

Also what is a quick method/food to reduce high blood sugar?

Thanks for answering my questions and I hope that your school is going well.

"If all the world is a stage and all the people players"...then I demand a less shitty part or the ability to get off of the stage. Slowly my sanity slides, slipping, swirling, spiraling...Save Me I need Sleep...Shattering Soon. "RukaxTouga equals the Fourth of July" MY patriotic celebration...FUCK ME TOUGA AND RUKA NOW!!

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OnlyInThisLight wrote:

I've had a lingering pain in my right leg for about a week. It's a kind of tight soreness concentrated right above the back of my knee, and it hurts enough to make me limp a bit and hurts to touch. I've noticed it has started since my first night at work -11 hours on my feet with no break...I literally did not leave the line (where we make the orders) once all night, running back and forth to make and hand out food. I'm not sure if it's just soreness from being outta practice being on my feet for such long periods of time or if I have genuinely pulled something.

Is it warm to the touch, swollen? Or just tender? In the case of just tenderness and tightness, you're probably just not used to standing. The shoes you're wearing are very likely an aggravating factor. Do hamstring stretches throughout the day and take ibuprofen when you need. I know it's sore, but massage and warm compresses will also help. Also try to change up your shoes or favor the other leg when standing. Do this for about 5 days, a week. If there's no improvement after that (it may not be a complete recovery, but you should notice something), you've ruled out muscle minor tears/strain and might want to consider asking a doctor WTF is up. Pain medication is the first line treatment in stuff like that period, since pain makes you tense, and that makes it worse. But it definitely sounds like a musculoskeletal thing, the question's just how much help you need getting over it.

SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:

Well really I did not want to start a birth control plan on a full time basis; I just wanted a skip month/week. So even though I don't think that the pills I have will work that way give it a shot. They are Norinyl 1/50 28 day compact.

They'll do the job. Just try to begin taking them either right after or in the middle of the cycle, because too close to menstruation and it might not kick in in time. Ideally you want your vacation to occur halfway through the 21 days of active pills, since the first month you might start spotting early. If you have enough time, try to sneak in a month ahead of the month you plan to skip to get your body used to the meds. But any oral contraceptive is a hormone regulator, and can be used to stall out your period for that reason.

SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:

Also what is a quick method/food to reduce high blood sugar?

Carbohydrates that aren't simple sugars: whole grains, brown rice, oatmeal, and so forth take longer to process so the peak sugar doesn't elevate as much. Also, taking in complex carbs with protein and fat (in sane amounts) slows absorption. Blood sugar isn't really ever reduced so much as cleverly managed based on diet to avoid sharp peaks. The only way to truly lower blood sugar is administration of insulin.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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Thanks for the 411.

"If all the world is a stage and all the people players"...then I demand a less shitty part or the ability to get off of the stage. Slowly my sanity slides, slipping, swirling, spiraling...Save Me I need Sleep...Shattering Soon. "RukaxTouga equals the Fourth of July" MY patriotic celebration...FUCK ME TOUGA AND RUKA NOW!!

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My boyfriend gets severe twitches when he sleeps. I've never, ever, in my entire life seen anyone twitch as bad as he does. Sometimes it's so bad he wakes me up, if I've already fallen asleep.He's had two seizures in his life, and is manic depressant, OCD, and gets a fair amount of panic attacks. (I was going to mention he's an avid hypochondriac, but it's only relevant if want to understand his personality. ) I don't know if he's just a twitchy fellow, or could it have something to do with his obviously abnormal brain?

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I have a paranoid question that isn't about me.

I have an anorexic sister who gets faint feeling or has headaches alot. She eats quite often, but never anything with fat, and she doesn't care if its loaded with sugar. Lately I've been finding her gorging on like... Jellybeans. She also needs to pee all the damn time. Both her parent's families also have had diabetes in them, and that kinda freaks me out, but I really have no idea how one goes about getting it and whatnot. So I dunno if I'm necessarily freaking or what. I'm only experienced in what to do with them, not figuring out if they have it.

(I know we need to to changer her diet, but I've been trying to feed her better things, but she's anorexic AND ocd, so its really tricky. And if we don't buy her food, she won't eat anything. I managed to get her to eat BACON earlier, so some progress HAS been made.)

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Oh! I can answer that! If she's bloating up, peeing a lot, and generally grumpy, with a family history of diabetes, she should he checked out for it. My twin sister is diabetic, so I know a little bit about it. I think there isn't really a way to tell if someone has diabetes without going to the doctor. Most people don't have the necessary equipment for testing keytone levels. Although, I've never really understood what a keytone is, I know it's important, and unusual levels can indicate diabetes. (My mom sent us to a weird seminar thing when my sister got the betes that insulted my intelligence by giving us a strange video game to explain diabetes instead of just telling us what the hell a keytone was. To this day I think of them only as very mean looking pack-man ghosts traveling around unchecked in someone's body. I was 9 when I went to that, and I'm 19 now...)

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Oh, well, that sounds like... everyone I know. (I kid, I kid. But it really does.)

I'm mostly wondering if like, eating too much sugar and all can lead to diabetes. Like, if I live off candy, will my pancreas freak the hell out and leave? I was always told 'Don't eat too much sugar or you'll get diabetes!'

Like, I can deal with someone in a diabetic attack, but god knows I dunno how the entire thing starts anyway. But I'm kinda scared to tell my mom that I suspect it, since her mother recently died due to complications of it.

Regardless, I hope you and your sister are doing well with that. I think mine has been better with it since for the longest time I didn't live at home. So I'm not really sure what its like to have the sick sibling. (Nor do I want to find out...)

I think ketones are a byproduct of your body trying to make energy when the sugar stuff is all messed up. I think the lack of glucose makes you need to burn something else, and it makes those, which then can make you sick. ...Of course, I'm a designer not a doctor. So... don't trust me.

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Aya wrote:

My boyfriend gets severe twitches when he sleeps. I've never, ever, in my entire life seen anyone twitch as bad as he does. Sometimes it's so bad he wakes me up, if I've already fallen asleep.He's had two seizures in his life, and is manic depressant, OCD, and gets a fair amount of panic attacks. (I was going to mention he's an avid hypochondriac, but it's only relevant if want to understand his personality. ) I don't know if he's just a twitchy fellow, or could it have something to do with his obviously abnormal brain?

It certainly could be a wiring issue, however most of the time, twitching and movement in sleep is more of an interplay between the neurologic system and the musculoskeletal system. A purely neurologic issue would manifest during the day also, and this is probably if at all only minimally related to the seizures if they're that infrequent. The first two things you want to do (you'll notice it always comes to this first--isn't it funny?) is check out his diet and his activity level. Twitching in your sleep, seriously, can be made worse by a sedentary lifestyle and inadequate physical activity. Muscles are hyper-excitable because they haven't been thoroughly worked out of it during the day. The other possibility is nutrition--imbalances in rather a lot of things can cause muscle twitching, spasms, and cramps, which will be controlled adequately during the day by the neurologic system so the symptoms go unnoticed until someone sleeps with you at night. Make sure he's getting enough potassium and calcium. Sodium also is a possibility but no one in any first world country ever lacks for sodium. Hydration's another big one.

Basically, look into his nutrition and maybe toss some supplements in where needed (stick with this for about a month before you rule out it's not working), and suggest some physical exercise, especially if it occurs in the second half of the day--even a bit of walking will help. Also some good stretching right before bed will work the kinks out a little. If these things don't change how much he twitches...give him a glass of wine or a shot of something hard before bed for a few days. (Srsly. Also, no beer. The carbs mess up this experiment and it's not enough alcohol.) At that point, whether that works or not he should probably get a check-up. But that's data that the doctor can use in a differential: that it's not responsive to nutrition and exercise, but that it does respond to alcohol.

By the way, this might all be bullshit if he's on any meds for seizures or OCD or panic attacks. Those meds tend to do weird shit like that and I can tell you if they're a culprit if you tell me what they are. In their case, dietary and exercise modifications may be helpful, but not completely so, and modification of the med regimen may be needed.

PROTIP: Pretend your doctor is Sherlock Holmes or House or something: data, data, data, he can't make bricks without clay! A lot of people get mad at doctors when they're wrong about a diagnosis based on a ridiculously small amount of data like 'my tummy hurts'. A good half of my job as a nurse is to kick and drag information out of you and your body that gives the doctor more to work with. You can help in this by ruling out and narrowing down a lot of things before you go if the situation isn't 'chest pain' or 'vomiting blood' or some other medical emergency. In many of these things I've talked about here, my advice has been 'try this and if it doesn't work, see the doctor'. That's because the doctor's in the same position I am in a lot of cases--he has to rule out something obvious before he digs deeper, and I'm telling you what that something he'll tell you to try first is. If you go to him and say 'I did this and this and nothing happened', then he actually has some data to work with. And yes, seriously, an easy half of the minor to moderate complaints people have involve their diet or lack of exercise. It really is that simple.

allegoriest wrote:

I have an anorexic sister who gets faint feeling or has headaches alot. She eats quite often, but never anything with fat, and she doesn't care if its loaded with sugar. Lately I've been finding her gorging on like... Jellybeans. She also needs to pee all the damn time. Both her parent's families also have had diabetes in them, and that kinda freaks me out, but I really have no idea how one goes about getting it and whatnot. So I dunno if I'm necessarily freaking or what. I'm only experienced in what to do with them, not figuring out if they have it.

(I know we need to to changer her diet, but I've been trying to feed her better things, but she's anorexic AND ocd, so its really tricky. And if we don't buy her food, she won't eat anything. I managed to get her to eat BACON earlier, so some progress HAS been made.)

OCD and anorexia often come together. People assume anorexia is motivated largely by a desire to be thin, and that is certainly a huge chunk of it...but it's mostly, mostly about control. We're actually kept away from the anorexic patients in the children's hospital because they're that manipulative and dangerous and take advantage of our kindness: an anorexic may be given an apple, but will argue because they want an orange. Nutritionally the same...but if you give in, you've given them control. You literally have to break them. It's scary stuff, and if she's truly anorexic she needs help before she gets to the point where she's in the hospital tied down with a tube in her nose to feed her. That's where that goes, and somehow they manage to get the tube out a lot of the time. Don't try to manage that on your own.

As far as her symptoms, they are textbook diabetes and she should definitely get it checked out. However...they're also all very characteristic of anorexia, and the doctor should be aware of her eating habits while diagnosing her, since the diabetes issue might cover up another major problem that needs addressing. But those symptoms are textbook hyperglycemia.

As far as ketones, they're what your body pisses out when you're burning fat for fuel rather than carbs. They're characteristic of diabetes because in diabetes you lack the insulin to allow you body to use carbs and sugar, so it burns the fat instead. A ketonic state is also the deliberate goal of the old Atkins diet--where you'd eat no carbs at all and so force your body to use the fat instead. (Danger there is people often did this wrong and burned through their protein first and lost muscle as well as fat.) You CAN buy urine ketone tests in pharmacies, I believe, since many diabetics (especially type 1) keep a couple sticks on hand. If she tests positive for ketones despite the ridiculous amount of sugar she takes in, she's almost definitely diabetic. Actually if that many folks around you have diabetes, someone probably has these sticks on hand. And a blood sugar tester. Diabetes is indicated by a presence of ketones in urine (this will be confirmed by blood test later), and by a fasting (8 hours) blood sugar over 90, or consistently high sugar after meals (over about 180). These are tests that if you have diabetics around, can be done before she goes to the doctor. He's going to do them himself anyway and you'll be saving him a lot of trouble and letting him skip right to the more precise evaluations of her condition.

allegoriest wrote:

Like, I can deal with someone in a diabetic attack, but god knows I dunno how the entire thing starts anyway. But I'm kinda scared to tell my mom that I suspect it, since her mother recently died due to complications of it.

ALL THE MORE REASON. You can't get rid of diabetes, and in the vast majority of people, its complications will eventually be their death or ruin. Sorry. BUT, the management of diabetes if it's taken seriously changes everything. Diabetes caught early and managed well is a lot less destructive than waiting for it to be really noticeable. What's scary about diabetes is what it does to the body while you're not looking. Don't let her wait.

allegoriest wrote:

I'm mostly wondering if like, eating too much sugar and all can lead to diabetes. Like, if I live off candy, will my pancreas freak the hell out and leave? I was always told 'Don't eat too much sugar or you'll get diabetes!'

Nope. Eating too much sugar will not cause diabetes. It'll just fucking kill you once you have it. An excessive and poor diet of any kind is more likely to make you fat, which inclines you to diabetes, but a diet full of fat and protein is as likely to be a causative factor as one filled with sugar. It's not what you eat but how much of it--the body's system for management of sugar isn't just run by the presence of sugar--if you eat too much, yeah you strain your pancreas. If you eat too much fat, there's less sugar to absorb and the pancreas gets lazy. In someone genetically inclined to diabetes, it may not matter what you do...eventually you'll develop it, even if your wise dietary choices only stalled it a decade or two.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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Thanks~

And whether she knows it or not, that's EXACTLY how her anorexia started. My sister used to be a bit larger than normal. Then she realized, if she never ate, they'd take her to McDonalds. Later, she realized that kids were always making fun of her for being fat, and she could control what she ate.

Fortunately, my sister DOES have some desire to not be OMG anorexic. She has reverse thinspiration. She looks at pictures of really anorexic chicks and goes 'I don't want to be like that, so I will eat.'On a slightly odd note, we have a wii fit file that shows her gaining weight. She's increased like... 20-30 pounds in the last few years, and she's still TINY. (That mii thing looks like a god damned alien.) I think she's like... a size zero at the largest. Maybe a double zero. (Wtf, why does clothes come this small.) She got to the point where she couldn't FIND clothes, and that was another reason she started eating more.

One of my friends found a university professor of hers recently though, that's agreed to help, so we're gonna try to take that up. (My father refuses to left anyone go to a psychiatrist, or to a doctor with no reason. )

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Howdy Dr. Gio,

After noticing your show came on after Dr. Phil, i thought i'd ask a question

On a serious note:

I have a Dual Ear infection in the same ear. The doctor diagnosed me with a middle and outter ear infection and gave me antibiotics and pain-killing ear drops. While the infection has gone down dramatically over the past 4 days of me taking the medicine; i still have an excrutiating pain ressonating on the inside of my ear. It hurts to turn, cough, or touch! Other than take massive amounts of Tylenol or Ibuprofin; is there anything else i can do to relieve the tension?

ALSO: I am concerned that i might have lost some hearing in my right ear (the one with the infection), should i get my hearing checked after this clears up? I am hearing a ringing in my right ear that i'm not used to pretty constantly. I also hear my ear popping and a lot of nasty noises on the inside of it... is this part of the healing process?

Re: Ask Nurse Spadaro! Avoid public embarrassment!

allegoriest, I'm sorry to say, but your father's being an idiot.

KFAR, it's hard to say right now if there's hearing loss--too much gunk and edema in the area that's the more likely culprit. I'm assuming you're on oral antibiotics or oral and drops? Drops won't really get into the inner ear well enough to be useful. Oral antibiotics usually kick in helluva fast, so there may be some bacterial resistance, or there might just be a lot of shit gunked up in there...kind of like an abscess. The treatment in that case will be the same--a deliberate puncture of tympanic membrane to drain out the pus.

I would call your doctor's office, ask them if the inner ear symptoms should have come down by now. (How long are you on antibiotics? If the course is longer than 10 days or so, then they might be expected to take longer to kill the symptoms.) Normally I'd say wait it out, but inner ear infections, especially of the bacterial sort, are Very Dangerous. They ARE a frequent cause of hearing loss, and they are high risk situations for meningitis and joint infections and all sorts of nasty shit.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

Re: Ask Nurse Spadaro! Avoid public embarrassment!

Giovanna wrote:

KFAR, it's hard to say right now if there's hearing loss--too much gunk and edema in the area that's the more likely culprit. I'm assuming you're on oral antibiotics or oral and drops? Drops won't really get into the inner ear well enough to be useful. Oral antibiotics usually kick in helluva fast, so there may be some bacterial resistance, or there might just be a lot of shit gunked up in there...kind of like an abscess. The treatment in that case will be the same--a deliberate puncture of tympanic membrane to drain out the pus.

I would call your doctor's office, ask them if the inner ear symptoms should have come down by now. (How long are you on antibiotics? If the course is longer than 10 days or so, then they might be expected to take longer to kill the symptoms.) Normally I'd say wait it out, but inner ear infections, especially of the bacterial sort, are Very Dangerous. They ARE a frequent cause of hearing loss, and they are high risk situations for meningitis and joint infections and all sorts of nasty shit.

I'm on oral antibiotics 3x daily and ear drops 3x daily. i've been on them for 5 days now. I was told its a 10 day dosage so. I will give my doc office a phone call tomorrow morning! hah eeaghh.... i really don't want "all sorts of nasty shit" i don't know if they have treatment for that disease yet But as for a sunday; i think i'll just hide under a rock and put my ear in buble-boy fashon until ic an call the doctor.

its really sweet of you to take care of all of your childr.... i mean forum posters and their illnesses. hahaa You might have to start charging for advice ;-)

Re: Ask Nurse Spadaro! Avoid public embarrassment!

KissFromARose wrote:

You might have to start charging for advice ;-)

Nurses are pushing to be billed for their services directly, as opposed to being included in the cost of your hospital bed. They feel that getting a bill for nursing, as you do from the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and laboratory, will increase public awareness of the value of nursing and give nurses more weight in the health care community.

Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade. ~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

Re: Ask Nurse Spadaro! Avoid public embarrassment!

Giovanna wrote:

KissFromARose wrote:

You might have to start charging for advice ;-)

Nurses are pushing to be billed for their services directly, as opposed to being included in the cost of your hospital bed. They feel that getting a bill for nursing, as you do from the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and laboratory, will increase public awareness of the value of nursing and give nurses more weight in the health care community.

my grandmother is a nurse and is a firm believer that most doctors are idiots and need nurses to remind them of simple tasks such as washing their hands! I mean seriously... But i agree; i think nurses are an essential part of the healthcare system and should be better taken care of

I wish you luck on your nursing endeavors and may you help many poor souls!